Baljic's future hope

Elvir Baljic's future at Real looks considerably brighter after his surprise inclusion in the Champions League squad to face Lokomotiv Moscow.

The striker, who was signed by John Toshack in 1999, was loaned out to Turkish side Fenerbahce last season, and last played for Real in May of last year.

It appeared during pre-season that the Bosnian was unwanted by Vincente del Bosque and the club tried to offload him to any interested clubs, particularly AC Milan, but no deal was struck.

However, things now seem to have changed for the Balkan ace. After being registered in Real's UEFA list and then in their league squad, it came to light, as sports daily 'Marca' reports, that The Merengues recently turned down a swap offer from Lazio, which would have brought strikers Darko Kovacevic or Simone Inzhagi to the Bernabeu.

This suggests that Del Bosque feels he is an important member of his squad and his call-up for the Lokomotiv match may be seen as confirmation of the fact.